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In this December 17, 2015 file photo, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) speaks during a news conference December 17, 2015 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

GOP lawmakers and conservative media have seized on the notion of a coordinated anti-Trump effort within the FBI after an agent's reference to a "secret society" in a text exchange emerged last month, NBC News reported.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., alleged an informant confirmed there had been "secret off-site meetings” involving "a number of high level, FBI officials." Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, suggested that there is a "secret society" among the Department of Justice and the FBI to undermine the Trump administration.

But a separate congressional Republican source revealed to NBC News that the exchange mentioning a "secret society" was hours after Trump won the presidency, and expressed concerns about what lay ahead after the elections.

"Seems kind of depressing," Lisa Page wrote to Peter Strzok. "Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society."

WH: Cannot Guarantee Trump Didn't Use N-Word

The White House defended President Donald Trump calling former protégée Omarosa Manigault-Newman a "dog" in a Tuesday press conference. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also could not guarantee that Trump has never used the N-word on record, but doubled down in his defense.

(Published 4 hours ago)

It was the only reference to a "secret society" in the recent DOJ disclosure.